# Stratfordshire by C&D and Non-Pareil by Savinelli



## ChronoB (Nov 4, 2007)

A little over a year ago I was scanning through C&D's website for something to try and happened upon Stratfordshire:

_A middle strength, full blend containing red and lemon Virginia, Latakia, Turkish and black Cavendish._

Sounded good to me, but unfortunately they don't tin it for retailers, so I ordered an 8 oz tin from them. Bit of a gamble, but I figured what the hell. I'm glad I gambled on it, because it is a great blend.

This blend tastes/smells exactly like you'd expect (which is always nice). The virginias and cavendish make for a nice sweet/toasty foundation. The latakia and turkish add smokiness and complexity. After a year and half in the tin things had melded nicely, so although one component would come through on occasion it was very balanced the whole way through. It went great with my morning cup of coffee, but this would make for a good all-day blend (assuming you're not averse to english/balkan blends).

The smoke was thick and heavy. Burn/packing characteristics were great. I'm no judge of room note, but I suspect that thanks to the cavendish it was fairly pleasant for an english style blend.

I'm a lightweight, and could care less about nicotine. But for those interested, by the time I got to the bottom of the bowl I was feeling the nicotine. Your mileage may vary.

All in all, I highly recommend. It will take me a while to get through eight ounces, but I'll definitely buy again. You'd have to order it directly from C&D, but perhaps if there is enough demand someday they'll retail it at stores.

I smoked this in my new Savinelli Non-Pareil. Sav discontinued this line for a while (before I could buy one), but they've been showing up again (got mine at smokingpipes.com). Perhaps they wanted demand to go back up. I know I emailed them and asked about reintroducing them last year. It has a beautiful sandblast with reddish/brown stain. It has a nice faux horn mount, so you can remove the stem while smoking. The stem is vulcanite and has a very comfortable button. Good draw, and very well constructed as far as I can tell. My first few smokes have been cool and dry, with no overt flavors from the briar. At $120 I think they represent a great value. Here's one in the same shape as mine:
Savinelli Nonpareil Sandblasted (9121) Pipes at Smoking Pipes .com


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## Hannibal (Apr 22, 2011)

Good Review Brother!!


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## ChronoB (Nov 4, 2007)

Thanks, Hannibal!


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## lestrout (Dec 10, 2007)

Chrono - good review of one of my Top100 Cellar occupants. Stratfordshire is a breakfast blend for me too, but it's good all day.

BTW, a great way to plumb through C&D's immense catalog is to give them a call, tell them what you like and don't like, and they can set up a sampler out of their whole catalog. One way to order their blends by the pound is to get them from Mars Cigars, who will special order. 

hp
les


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## Smoke King David (Mar 11, 2007)

I agree; Stratfordshire is quite a fine blend. But when I first tried it, I was underwhelmed. Letting this blend sit for a while really improved it. The blend became a bit sweeter and smoother. I will be ordering more, soon. As to Savinelli Non-Pareil, I checked them out at Smoking Pipes and am sorely tempted. I have a number of Savs, and some of them hold their own against much pricier pipes (in terms of delivering a quality smoking experience).


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## ChronoB (Nov 4, 2007)

Wow, glad to see it already has some fans out there!

King David, you've been here since 2007 and only had 6 posts? You must really like Stratdfordshire to have commented on it!


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## TommyTree (Jan 7, 2012)

Good review, Chrono. That Savinelli, by the way, looks fairly reminiscent of some of Stanwell's work. Gives me some hope that the Italian Stanwells might actually measure up to the quality they enjoyed in Denmark.


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## Cigar Man Andy (Aug 13, 2008)

I will have to check again, but to my knowledge, price list and catalog, we discontinued and do not have anymore of the Non-Pareil. Should I mention, I am the CA rep for Savinelli.


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## ChronoB (Nov 4, 2007)

Cigar Man Andy said:


> I will have to check again, but to my knowledge, price list and catalog, we discontinued and do not have anymore of the Non-Pareil. Should I mention, I am the CA rep for Savinelli.


Hi, Andy. I wanted to buy a non-pareil about a year ago and couldn't find any. I emailed Savinelli and they also told me the line was discontinued. But recently smokingpipes.com has placed quite a few for sale. Perhaps they are old, unused stock that was found somewhere? Regardless of where they got them, I hope Savinelli officially reintroduces the line at some point. The one I purchased is an excellent pipe.


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## Smoke King David (Mar 11, 2007)

ChronoB said:


> Wow, glad to see it already has some fans out there!
> 
> King David, you've been here since 2007 and only had 6 posts? You must really like Stratdfordshire to have commented on it!


Chrono, I guess I am technologically challenged...much easier to read than it is to post, especially when you keep goofing up the login process. Anyway, I might finally be getting the hang of this thing that you call "computer." As to this Cornell & Diehl blend, I do like Stratfordshire even if it is not my favorite.


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